Cereal Chem 47:533 - 544.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Changes in Wheat Lipids During Seed Maturation. II. Changes in Lipid Composition.

S. K. Skarsaune, V. L. Youngs, and K. A. Gilles. Copyright 1970 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Quantitative thin-layer chromatography of the extracted lipids of maturing HRS and durum wheats showed that esterification increased as maturation progressed. Triglyceride content increased uniformly, whereas the monoglycerides decreased and the diglycerides remained essentially constant. The sterol esters, which were absent in extracts from the durum varieties, increased steadily in the HRS wheat lipids. Free sterols and free fatty acids decreased in the lipids of all varieties. While the same fatty acids were detected in immature and mature wheats, their proportions changed during ripening. Linoleic acid increased steadily, whereas linolenic and oleic acids decreased. Palmitic and stearic acids showed essentially no change with maturation. Examination of the water-saturated n-butanol extracts of maturing wheat showed that the phospholipids increased during maturation; no consistent changes were detected in the galactolipids.